Mobile Health App for Diabetes Management: Spanish Speakers

This project proposes a mobile health application designed to support the self-management of type 2 diabetes in Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrants. The identified population, characterized by limited English proficiency and often low health literacy, faces significant challenges in managing their condition. The project emphasizes the importance of addressing this health need, given the high prevalence of diabetes within this population and the potential for related chronic diseases. The proposed tool is a diabetes care app featuring Spanish language translation, dietary information, self-care instructions, and a chat function for addressing questions and concerns. The app is designed to be compatible with smartphones and tablets and provides access to a specialized diabetes team. The project justifies the choice of this technology by citing evidence supporting the efficacy of mobile health apps in improving health outcomes, particularly for individuals with diabetes. The app is expected to contribute to critical thinking by promoting self-management skills, improve patient outcomes by improving HbA1c levels and facilitating positive health behaviors, and support nursing practice by facilitating collaboration and empowering patients. References to relevant literature support the project's rationale and approach.

HEALTH EDUCATION TOOL FOR
SPANISH SPEAKING MEXICAN
IMMIGRANTS
Name of the student:
Name of the University:

CHOSEN POPULATION GROUP
 The identified population for this project is a 55 year
old Mexican male immigrant who speaks Spanish
with limited English
 Mexican male immigrants mainly have limited health
literacy
 They are very much attached to their family and
cultural values
 Very few Mexican immigrants complete their
elementary schooling (Riosmena & Massey, 2012).

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SELECTED POPULATION AND OWN POPULATION
Mexican immigrant group
 Mexican immigrants
includes people coming
from Mexico and residing in
other places of United
States
 Mexican Americans have a
multicultural inheritance as
it mix of Spain, Mexico and
indigenous cultures.
 Their history has been
shaped by war and
depressions
Haitians group:
 Haitians are the citizens of
Haiti
 They have strong African
roots with influence of
indigenous American
culture and European
aesthetic
 Haitian immigrants history
has been shaped by
political strife, corruption
and intimidation.

IMPORTANCE OF THE HEALTH NEED FOR THE
POPULATION
 The Mexican immigrant are
disproportionately affected by the
incidence of type 2 diabetes
compared to other population group
in United States
 As type 2 diabetes is a risk factor of
other chronic disease like
cardiovascular disease, there is a
need to focus on addressing health
needs related to this health issue
for the chosen population.
 The rate of diabetes in Mexican
immigrant population is the highest
and the lack of access to preventive
health care further shows the
importance of this health need
(López & Golden, 2014).

SPECIAL LEARNING CHALLENGES FACED BY THE
POPULATION
 Type 2 diabetes is major health
need for the Mexican immigrants
and Rosiek et al. (2016) supports
that healthy lifestyle, preventive
behaviors and healthy nutritional
habits are essential for effective
management of diabetes.
 However, in the context of Mexican
immigrants, some special learning
challenges that prevent the group
from understanding messages
related to self-management of
diabetes includes limited English
language proficiency (LEP) and
poor health literacy
 Low health literacy and language
barriers lead to negative health
outcomes in the group

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOOL
 To support on-going self-management of diabetes in
Hispanic immigrants, it has been identified to use mobile
health application on diabetes mellitus that caters to the
language needs of LEP Mexican immigrants
 The diabetes app will contain all detailed information on
diet, daily self-care, safety message and a chat box to
inquire about any confusion or challenges in diabetes
management.
 The uniqueness of the diabetes care app is that it will
have language translation features and it will be available
in Spanish language too.

HOW IT WORKS?
 The app will be compatible to
be used either by a tab, via
smart phones.
 It will have text message and
feedback systems
 The app will gives users the
chance to chat with special
diabetes team who give
them education on diabetes
management and diet control
 This will be the first tool with
clear information on daily
care routine for diabetes
patient in Spanish language

EVIDENCE FOR THE USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY
CHOSEN
 Diabetes care mobile app with language translation features has
been chosen for addressing health needs of Mexican Americans.
 A systematic review by Whitehead and Seaton (2016) revealed
the potential of mobile phone apps in improving health outcome
of people with diabetes and other chronic disease and facilitating
symptom control in patients.
 The study by Rodriguez and Singh (2018) focused on
disproportionate impact of diabetes on Latinos with LEP and gave
evidence regarding lack of Spanish based app for this group.
 Panayiotou et al. (2019) suggested as non-English speaking
patients do not receive special care, there is a need for
compatible language translation apps.

HOW THE TOOL CONTRIBUTES TO CRITICAL
THINKING?
 The language compatible mobile phone based app contributes
to critical thinking by development of self-management skills in
target population
 Through the diabetes care, blood glucose monitoring and
diabetes control related instructions in the app, the mobile
health technology has the potential to develop knowledge
regarding self-management of diabetes in Mexican immigrants
 The benefit is seen because of the contribution of the mobile
app in advancing knowledge of diabetes such as awareness of
complications and strategies to control them.

HOW THE TOOL CONTRIBUTES TO PATIENT
OUTCOMES?
The tool contributes to patient outcome by:
 Improving HbA1c level
 Developing understanding of the disease process
and risk factors
 Facilitating positive health behavior and regular
monitoring of blood glucose level

HOW THE TOOL CONTRIBUTES TO NURSING
PRACTICE?
 It gives nurses the chance to further
collaborate with Mexican immigrants and
empower them with mobile health
technologies
 Nurse can encourage Mexican immigrants to
follow the app message and share their food
diary with them
 Mobile apps will reduce the burden of nurse
in relation to constant assessment of
glycaemic outcome in patient

REFERENCES
Anderson, C. (2015). Acculturation And Diabetes Risk Among Mexican Americans. Retrieveed from:
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=ysphtdl
Baig, A. A., Locklin, C. A., Foley, E., Ewigman, B., Meltzer, D. O., & Huang, E. S. (2014). The association of English
ability and glycemic control among Latinos with diabetes. Ethnicity & disease, 24(1), 28.
Desveaux, L., Shaw, J., Saragosa, M., Soobiah, C., Marani, H., Hensel, J., ... & Jeffs, L. (2018). A mobile app to
improve self-management of individuals with type 2 diabetes: qualitative realist evaluation. Journal of medical
Internet research, 20(3), e81.
Jacobson, H. E., Hund, L., & Mas, F. S. (2016). Predictors of English Health Literacy among US Hispanic Immigrants:
The importance of language, bilingualism and sociolinguistic environment. Literacy & numeracy studies: an
international journal in the education and training of adults, 24(1), 43.
López, L., & Golden, S. H. (2014). A new era in understanding diabetes disparities among US Latinos—all are not
equal. Diabetes care, 37(8), 2081-2083.
Panayiotou, A., Gardner, A., Williams, S., Zucchi, E., Mascitti-Meuter, M., Goh, A. M., ... & Haralambous, B. (2019).
Language Translation Apps in Health Care Settings: Expert Opinion. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(4), e11316.
Riosmena, F., & Massey, D. S. (2012). Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican
Migrants to the United States 1. International Migration Review, 46(1), 3-36.
Rodriguez, J. A., & Singh, K. (2018). The Spanish availability and readability of diabetes apps. Journal of diabetes
science and technology, 12(3), 719-724.
Rosiek, A., Kornatowski, T., Frąckowiak-Maciejewska, N., Rosiek-Kryszewska, A., Wyżgowski, P., & Leksowski, K.
(2016). Health behaviors of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their influence on the patients’
satisfaction with life. Therapeutics and clinical risk management, 12, 1783.
Whitehead, L., & Seaton, P. (2016). The effectiveness of self-management mobile phone and tablet apps in long-
term condition management: a systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 18(5), e97.